She's Back, And It's About Time
by Meg F
Summary: A time-travellin', rollickin', roller-coaster, all-singing, all-dancing story.
1. Default Chapter

It begins with someone running.   
  
A man. Young man, possibly still in his teens. Short, dark hair. Ears that stick out. He's panting, trying to pace himself, trying to control the fear, since he knows what's chasing him. He casts another terrified look over his shoulder.   
  
The thing that used to be Ronald Barton grinned, effortlessly herding the boy towards the graveyard. Sometimes these kids were wonderfully stupid. There were a couple more vamps lying in wait behind the big crypt on the left. It was a jig they'd pulled plenty of times, always in different places so the Slayer wouldn't catch on.   
  
The kid reached the crypt. The vamps, O'Neill and Walker, sprang out.   
  
Unexpectedly, the kid didn't fall screaming to the ground. His head went down, his arms pumped harder, and he veered purposefully off to the right.   
  
Where a blonde girl appeared. Barton growled, realising. Now that the Slayer was there, the kid suddenly seemed a lot more confident, yanking a stake from his sleeve. The Slayer took the lead, with a roundhouse kick at Walker's face, which connected solidly. Walker was up again in an instant, swinging wildly. Barton had a split-second glance of the kid grappling with O'Neill, then he was on the Slayer.   
  
He dove at her unprotected back, while Walker threw a flurry of punches at her. She deftly avoided or blocked each and every punch, twisted just enough so that Barton missed his target, then swung Walker into him as he lurched past. They collided heavily, Barton spinning off against the crypt wall. He slid down it to the ground, watching as his beautifully simple plan was turned to dust along with Walker. The Slayer raced to help her friend, as Barton tried to get up again. Might as well go down fighting, after all.   
  
Then he went down more suddenly than he'd expected. A hand grabbed him and yanked him backwards, into the crypt. "Surprise!" He gasped, looking up at the girl's upside-down face. It was the Slayer. But he'd just seen her outside the crypt?!   
  
This couldn't be good. Then he spied the stake sticking out of his chest. And all his troubles vanished in a puff of dust.   
  
***  
  
Buffy grabbed the vamp's upper arms and held him steady for Xander. She could've finished him off by herself, but appreciated Xander's help and wanted him to feel useful. Xander was bruised, but managed to mutter "I'm not proud!" as he grinned at Buffy and staked the vamp. He reeled backwards as the vamp exploded, coughing.   
  
Buffy sensed the person behind her, and reflexively shot a fist back to where the face should be, at the same height as her own. The fist connected solidly. She grunted in satisfaction even as she turned to discover the identity of the now-unconscious person.  
  
It was another blonde girl.   
  
It was another Buffy.  
  
Xander lurched towards her, and she automatically caught him. "Buff-" he looked at the ground, blinked, and did a small double take. "-y?!" He tried to stand by himself, but staggered again. "What're you doing on the ground, woman?" He sat suddenly, as if all the air had gone out of his legs.  
  
"Now this, I was not expecting," Buffy said, astonished. She crouched beside - herself, and went to tuck back a stray strand of hair. She half-expected the figure on the ground to copy her, like a proper mirror image.   
  
Xander rubbed his left shoulder slowly. "Well spank my butt and call me Charlie. This is weird. Though I won't say I've never fantasized about it." He wore a mock leer, desperately trying to find a note of normal in this weirdness. Weird even for a world which had vampires, demons, and Michael Jackson.   
  
Buffy gave him the obligatory admonishing look, then swivelled back to the other girl, shaking her head in disbelief. "Not another alternate twin. I guess it was my turn." She shrugged.   
  
Now that he was closer, and the adrenaline from the fight had worn off, Xander could clearly see differences between them. The Buffy on the ground was older. Hair a little shorter, with lines of pain around her eyes and mouth. She was wearing a dark, hooded top with grey sweatpants, whereas 'his' Buffy's top had no hood, she was showing cleavage - always a plus - and her pants were dark blue, not grey.   
  
The other Buffy's eyes opened. She looked at - herself, then Xander. "Ow. Hello," she said softly.   
  
***  
  
"Giles, we need to talk. I have something to tell you." Buffy pushed the door open without knocking.   
  
Giles glanced up from his book. "Mm, come in, I'll be with you in a moment." He finished the paragraph then gestured to the sofa, forefinger marking his place in the book. "Sit down," Xander looked pale. He was nursing an arm, and had a bruise on his temple. Buffy didn't have a scratch on her. Giles stood, staring at Xander in concern "Do you need - "  
  
"No," Xander quickly interrupted. "I'm fine, just fell badly. Nothing broken, not even my brain. Did I mention that I love your new dress, Giles? It really brings out the red in your eyes." Buffy eased Xander down to a chair.   
  
Giles harrumphed. "Now, you had something to say?"  
  
Then Buffy came through the door.   
  
He stared. "Good lord." Giles could muster nothing more coherent for the moment. Then he was overwhelmed by Buffy II: The Near-Fatal Embrace. The second Slayer threw herself on him and enveloped him in a giant hug. He fell back, his head colliding painfully with the wall. The book dropped unnoticed from his hand. His ribs cracked in a near-perfect C chord, he noted dazedly. "Uh, Buffy," he managed, choking, looking helplessly from one to the other.   
  
The girl on top of him sobbed once, abruptly, into his jacket, then pushed herself off him. "I'm sorry, Giles," she whispered into her hands, which were clenched over her face. She was fighting to regain control, "I just thought I'd never see you - whoa." She stopped herself, and straightened. "Time to be the Lady of Talknot."  
  
Giles shoved himself off the wall, and righted the fallen chair, tugging on the front of his jacket. He looked from one Buffy to the other. Xander grinned uneasily. "I know, I can't stop doing that either. We have a matched set. I expect the steak knives to show up any second now."  
  
"Ah, I remember this. The witty banter." The older Buffy's face was unreadable. Then she broke into a wide smile. "I've missed it so much."  
  
Giles gestured to a seat next to Xander on the couch, and she sat. "Now, Buffy," they both looked at him. "Uh, you," he gestured at the older Buffy, "why exactly - oh, this is ridiculous. We can't keep saying 'you' and 'you'."  
  
"Call me 'Anne'," the older Buffy suggested. The younger Buffy winced, then managed a bittersweet smile. "I've come from the future. Five years, to be exact. There's... uhh... something I have to do."  
  
"I'll call Willow," Giles said quietly. "She should be here too."  
  
Anne smiled. "Yes."   
  
Giles rang Willow's number, while Xander desperately tried to make small talk. "So, two of you, eh?" he said weakly, and attempted to smirk.  
  
"Xander," the two girls reproved, then looked at each other and grinned.   
  
Buffy said, snickering, "Doesn't this remind you of the time when-"  
  
Anne interrupted, "And what about that outfit!"   
  
"Not that he could get past the cleavage!" They went off into gales of laughter.  
  
"She's clearly a bad influence on herself," Xander muttered snarkily, sure that he was being maligned in some way. Though he was pleased to see Anne relax a little.   
  
"Tara, hello," Giles said suddenly into the phone. "Could you please come over to my apartment, with Willow? ... Yes, we do want you as well. ...Possibly the end of the world, yes. ...Thank you." He hung up. "Tea, everyone?"  
  
Buffy stated, "Tea won't do it, Giles. I'm going to need serious caffeination. More caffeine than the human body can bear. I need a real drink." Anne nodded enthusiastically, then put a hand to her forehead.   
  
"Are you all right?" Xander asked.  
  
"Yes, yes," she grimaced. "Just a headache. Left over from travelling back here. I'll be fine once I have something."  
  
"Coffee, then," Giles didn't bother to hide his distaste, but gave way to the slight blonde girls. It was difficult enough to argue with just one Buffy. He measured coffee into the pot, added water, and put it on the stove. There were some doughnuts left in the bag on the counter. He arranged them on a plate together with the last of the shortbread, and brought it all over to the coffee table.  
  
"All jellies?" Buffy noted.   
  
"I like jellies," Giles said defensively. He sat opposite the two girls, and reached over awkwardly to pat Anne on the shoulder. "Now, Anne, can you start to fill us in, before Tara and Willow get here?"  
  
She was silent for a moment, staring down at her hands, folded in her lap. She looked up. "I'm here because - because it's all gone horribly wrong. Sunnydale's a wasteland in my time. Me and... we checked out all the prophecies for the Sunnydale area over the last thousand years. It took a long time, but we did it. Our future isn't right. And we think we know where it went all, all unnnghh." Words failed her, but the others nodded in comprehension. "So I've come back to stop it happening again."  
  
"But you meeting your past self - isn't that breaking the first Law of Time or something?" Xander asked, fascinated.   
  
Anne mouthed the last few words with him. "You told me you'd say that," she said, grinning. "You're probably right, but this isn't Doctor Who. I don't give a bad hair day about the integrity of the time stream." Her voice hardened. "All I know is that my time wasn't meant to happen. It's wrong. I'm going to do my damnedest to stop it. I don't care if I cause one of those things, um, those things you get when two things shouldn't be together but they are anyway - "  
  
Xander interrupted. "An after-school special on naughty touching?"  
  
Giles sighed, "I think you mean a paradox. So what happened, to make it all so dreadful? What are you trying to avoid?"  
  
Anne stood, restless, and moved into the kitchen. She picked up a saucepan, put it down, then picked up a teacup. "I don't know what to tell you. I don't... want to upset you." The others exchanged grim looks. "I have to try to tell you enough so that you can help me fight this, without... scaring you."  
  



	2. She's Back, And It's About Time -- Part ...

Buffy frowned. "Wait a minute. Shouldn't you remember what you told us? Back when you were me - this is confusing."  
  
"I know what you mean," Anne grinned. "Tara told me English just isn't set up right for talking about time travel. Not enough tenses, or something. She's become an expert. Okay, let me try to remember how she explained it."   
  
Anne came back into the living room, and leant against the wall. She bit her lower lip, concentrating. "Time isn't just a line. The past influences the future, but the future can influence the past too, in a way. Something's gone wrong in my past. I can go back and change it - well, I hope I can. But because I wasn't there the first time around, everything is different. My memories will change, but we think I'll remember the way things were in both versions." She blinked. "In fact, you guys might remember both versions, too. So I have to be careful not to give you too much information, because it might change everything in your future, and make it even worse."   
  
Giles nodded. "So, you think that if you were to alter your past - such as writing yourself a letter and placing it inside your diary - you would remember opening your diary many times without finding a letter, but if you were to go to your diary today, you would find it?"  
  
"Yeah, something like that."  
  
"How do you know you're back at the right time, though?" Buffy asked. "How do you know that this is where things changed?"  
  
Anne wrinkled her nose, frowning uneasily. "We're not sure. We found a couple of disturbances in the timeline - well, Tara found them. The spell was calculated to make me follow the disturbances. Eddies in the space-time continuum."  
  
Buffy was mystified. "Oh, is he?"  
  
Anne grinned. "Not that sort of Eddie. Sorry. Tara spent the last year studying this stuff, and she taught me a lot. I forget I know more than other people. Um. Think of time like a river. The disturbances are like large rocks. I threw myself in, and washed up on one of them. But we don't know what happened, exactly. I should be able to tell when I see it, because I'm not from this time."   
  
Giles scratched his head, then yawned abruptly. Startled, he waved a hand apologetically in front of his mouth. "If nothing else, the knowledge that something bad is coming will assist us."  
  
Willow walked through the door and said cheerily, "Hi guys!" Tara followed, and waved a greeting at everyone.  
  
Anne's eyes widened, and a relieved, wistful smile grew on her face. She swiped surreptitiously at her eyes. Xander's heart sank.   
  
Willow and Tara did a near-simultaneous double take. "Wow, this is weird," Willow noted.  
  
"Nearly as weird as that Christmas where we were fourteen, and Principal Flutie dressed up as Santa, but got so drunk he sat on everybody else's knee?" Xander asked eagerly.   
  
Willow raised an eyebrow and said, deadpan, "Yes, Xander, that's exactly what I was thinking of." She stood awkwardly in front of Anne. "Um, hello."  
  
"Will, Tara, this is Anne," Buffy said gently. "She does understand English, you know."  
  
"Barely," Anne grinned. "No more than before." She rose. "Do you mind if I-" Willow moved around the coffee table. Tara hung back uneasily, until Anne grabbed her hand, catching the two girls up in a three-way hug.   
  
As they released, Tara winked at Xander. "Are we sure she's not a robot?"  
  
Xander spluttered. "Yes. That would be stupid."  
  
"Kind of like a bread sandwich?" Willow piped up suddenly. "Because that, that would be dumb," she trailed off, when she noticed everyone's looks.  
  
Anne wobbled. Xander was by her side in an instant, putting an arm around her waist. "Are you all right?"  
  
She lurched again, then focused on him, trying to smile. "Yeah. Sorry. The spell took a lot outta me. I just need some fresh air."  
  
Giles waved towards the doorway. "Xander, perhaps you could escort our guest outside. Buffy and I can explain to Tara and Willow."  
  
Xander nodded, and helped her outside.   
  
They sat on the low bench. "You okay? You looked awfully green."  
  
"Some, thanks."  
  
They stared at the stars for a time, in companionable silence. Finally, Xander couldn't take it any more.  
  
"Willow, too?" he asked softly.   
  
Anne grimaced. She took a deep breath, then told him quietly about the final battle, though she obviously left out a lot of painful details. She told him about finding Anya dead, and what it had done to him. About... not finding Willow at all.   
  
"We didn't know what had happened to her," Anne said softly, a wealth of sorrow in her eyes. "Those bastards... they took her, Xander." He put a hand on her arm, a mute expression of horror and comfort. "We tried to get her back, but we couldn't. It was down to you, me and Tara at that point. Tara was weak. She was able to tell us where they were, but that was it. You and I went spying three or four times, but there were too damn many of them. We nearly didn't come back, the last time."   
  
Xander asked reluctantly, "What did they do to her?"   
  
"He - the leader wasn't interested in ransoming her. The gang wasn't interested in using her skills, or in using her to force us to do something. They weren't interested in her as a person, at all."  
  
Silence.  
  
"When, um, when did you find out what happened to her?"  
  
"We were hiding in the woods. In a cave. A cave, Xander. The great Slayer was reduced to living in a cave, with a few supplies, sleeping on the ground," Anne shook her head bitterly. "We thought we'd done such a good job of hiding. Covering our tracks."  
  
"But-?" Xander prompted gently.  
  
"Late one night, I heard something outside. I crept out to see. It was Will, Xander. They'd left her in front of our damn cave, like they'd known where we were all the time and didn't give a damn." Anne dragged one hand over her eyes, trembling. "She was dead."  
  
"Oh, God," Xander whispered, putting an arm around Anne, feeling the tears well up. He drew her into an embrace. She was stiff, resisting. His heart skipped a beat. He cupped a hand around her cheek, trying to get her to look at him. "What else?"  
  
"Nothing," she murmured, refusing to make eye contact.  
  
"There's something else. I know you too well, Buffy. What happened? What happened to Willow?"  
  
Anne's face crumpled. "She was naked."  
  
Xander shook his head slowly, reluctant to accept the implications.  
  
It all came out. "You dragged me away from her - from the body. I couldn't face it, y'know? I'm supposed to be the Slayer. I'm supposed to be the one who rescues people at the last minute, if not before. But I couldn't help her. It was Will, Xander. Anya's death was bad enough, but that was quick and painless, and this was Willow." Her voice lingered over the last word.  
  
They held each other then.   
  
Anne said softly into his shoulder, "Tara woke up when I started screaming. Tara and I were total wrecks after that. Me, because I'm the one who saves people. The one who looks after everyone. Tara, well, that's obvious."  
  
Xander asked, "What did I do?"  
  
Anne moved back. "You?" A smile edged with pain crossed her face. "You were amazing. You forced us both back inside the cave, until we calmed down a little. You told me to look after Tara, because she needed me. Of course, you told Tara the same thing, but I didn't know that at the time. Tara stopped me going over the edge. I knew I had to stay there, to stay - sane - for her sake."  
  
"And then what?" Xander massaged the back of his neck.   
  
"You grabbed a shirt of mine, and a skirt of Tara's. We nodded that you could take them. You cleaned her wounds, Xander, you dressed her, and you buried her. You didn't come back for hours."   
  
Her voice trembled. "I don't ever want to see that look on your face again. You looked like everything that was good had gone out of the world, and you were continuing to breathe only because it would be too much trouble to stop. Then you found us a new place. You organised supplies. You moved us."   
  
She paused. "You stayed sane for us. I got a little stupid for a while, and took some dumb risks, but you always brought me back."  
  
There was a knock on the door, from the inside. Willow pushed it open slowly, mindful of their privacy. "The coffee's ready, if you want to come back in."  
  
"Okay," Anne responded. Xander wiped his eyes quickly, then followed her inside.   
  
Two steaming mugs sat on the coffee table, along with more biscuits. The others had their mugs in hand already. Anne picked up a mug, warming her hands gratefully.   
  
A familiar voice said from the kitchen, "Rupert, what happened to the rest of the donuts that were on the counter?"  
  
Anne looked up. "Miss... *Calendar*?!"  
  



	3. 

"Hello, Anne," Jenny smiled. "Rupert told me all about what happened. How are you feeling? Those time travel spells can really knock you around."  
  
"Better. . . thanks," Anne said dazedly. Xander helped her to a seat. She shook herself. "But - but this is wrong. You're not supposed to be here."  
  
Giles placed a protective arm around Jenny's shoulders. "What do you mean?"   
  
Anne tensed, only too aware of the impact of her next words. "Miss Calendar - back at the battle with Angelus - Miss Calendar didn't, um, survive."  
  
The room erupted. Giles shouted, "What?!"   
  
Buffy swore and moved instinctively in front of Jenny.   
  
Willow and Tara gasped.   
  
Xander said "What the hell do you mean?"  
  
"I'm sorry," Anne raised a hand placatingly. "I don't mean to upset you. It's freaking me out, too." Giles folded his arms, staring at her angrily. "I thought - we thought - I was coming back here to fix something wrong in this time. But I'm too late. *This* is wrong."   
  
Xander frowned. "So you think Miss Calendar - Jenny - is the reason why your future is so bad?"  
  
Anne shifted uneasily. "I'm not sure. I know she's not supposed to be here. I'm not sure why I don't remember this. But the spell was created specifically to send me to a time when something went wrong. There must be something significant now, too. But I think I'll have to go back to 1998 to fix it all."   
  
"Fix it all?" Giles said sharply. "You mean kill - kill Jenny?" Willow's eyes were huge.   
  
Anne flinched. "I'm not sure. I'm so sorry. It's hard to say, exactly. But it's not like we all have wonderful lives, if I leave this timeline as it is. I've seen the future, Giles, and it's horrific."  
  
Giles took a deep breath. He said reluctantly, "So you'd sacrifice her to save yourself?"  
  
"Rupert!" Jenny exclaimed. "That was too harsh."  
  
"It's all right," Anne said softly. "I don't - I'm not - I can't say what I'll do when it comes down to it. But this timeline is unstable. It won't survive. We'll *all* die if it can't be fixed."  
  
"I. . . see," Giles said slowly. "I think I understand. It's not your fault, of course, I just wish-"  
  
Jenny kissed him on the cheek, then sat down next to Anne. "We'll figure it out, Anne." She bit her lip. "Why don't you tell us what happened to me? How I - died?"  
  
Anne nodded. [Man, I'm getting sick of explaining deaths,] she thought wryly. She told them reluctantly about the battle with Angelus. About Jenny translating the spell to restore his soul.  
  
And how it had led to her death.  
  
"Willow found the translation and performed the spell," she concluded. "But it was too late. I had to send Angel to Hell."  
  
"You mean he changed back?" Buffy had a hand on her heart. "He changed back and you still had to send him to Hell?"  
  
"Yeah," Anne looked down. "Not one of my proudest moments. Hey, so he didn't change back, here?"  
  
"No," Buffy shook her head slowly, still horrified at the thought. "Miss Calendar's computer crashed before she could complete the spell. I sacrificed *Angelus* to Acathla's vortex, which was hard enough. Angelus returned to Sunnydale a couple of years ago. We changed him back then." She put her arm around Willow.   
  
Anne blinked. "Weren't you in front of Miss Calendar?" The others gave her concerned looks. "Never mind." [That was strange.]  
  
Buffy continued, "We lost a few people."  
  
"Oz," Willow said softly. "He killed Oz."   
  
"Oh, Will, I'm so sorry!" Anne leapt up and gave her a hug. "This is getting confusing. Tara said something about memories. That I wouldn't remember all the differences, even though they happened in my past. I wish I could think of exactly what she said."   
  
Tara raised her eyebrows. "So, Anne, y-you don't remember any of this? You don't remember sending Angelus to Hell, not Angel?"  
  
Anne shrugged. "No."   
  
Xander continued, "And you don't remember this discussion? Back when you," he pointed at Anne, "were her?" he pointed at Buffy.  
  
"Not a thing."  
  
He shook his head. "Weird."  
  
The phone rang. Xander picked it up. "Hello. . . Anya?. . . You're kidding. . . Where?. . . Okay. Bye." He hung up. "Vampire gang," he said. "Heading this way."  
  
"Typical," Willow snorted.   
  
"And this is a biggie. A whole heap of vamps - at least thirty. Anya's bringing some holy water."  
  
"We'd better prepare." Buffy stood, resolute.   
  
Anne put out a hand. "What year is it? 2000, isn't it?"  
  
"2001," Xander answered. "May."  
  
"May 2001," Anne said slowly. "Oh, no. I think I know what's going to happen. There's something I should probably tell you."  
  
****  
  
Anne grabbed Giles' shoulder. "Are you sure you should?"  
  
"We don't have much choice. Not enough people," he said shortly. "And if the problem is earlier in the timeline anyway, what does it matter? It makes no difference if it all has to be changed anyway."   
  
"But you don't have to go through this," Anne stressed, eyes intent on his.  
  
He softened. "Yes, I do, Anne. It's what I do. It's what we all do."  
  
Giles, Willow, Buffy, Anne, and Xander left Giles' apartment cautiously. The non-combatants stayed inside. Safe enough - for now.  
  
Twenty vampires stood around the courtyard, with a few terrified humans. The vamps were laughing, joking. Feeding. A scream sounded, but was abruptly cut off.   
  
One vampire sauntered over. A large man with red hair and dark eyes. Willow blinked. For a second, he looked like a tiny Asian woman with a long black ponytail - no. Her eyes must've been playing tricks.   
  
The vampire snarled. "Finally. It took you long enough to show up."  
  
"Enough with the witty commentary," Anne said tightly. "We have things to do." She launched into a flying kick at the lead vampire, and it was on.   
  
Xander ran towards a group of vampires, shouting. Completely unused to the full-frontal approach from 'food', they scattered, then collected themselves. Willow staked a tall blond vamp. Xander dropped under a roundhouse kick from a large redhaired woman and rolled smoothly back to his feet, staked her, then received a punch to the gut which made him double over, retching. Willow dragged him off to one side to recover.  
  
Buffy found herself exchanging blows with a slender black woman, about her age and height, with a large Afro. She took a quick, instinctive look at Giles - [Good, he's doing okay] -somersaulted over a kick, thrust her foot backwards at the woman's solar plexus, then found herself striking a middle-aged black man at least two inches shorter.   
  
More vamps came out of nowhere. Willow screamed as a burly woman grabbed her from behind, wrestling her to the ground. She struggled.   
  
Xander shoved his crucifix in the woman's face. She backed off, hissing, but then Xander was kicked in the side by a broad-shouldered man with black hair. He cried out. The man leaped on him and snarled, breath hot in his face. Xander gulped. He brutally pushed the heel of his hand into the vamp's nose, granting him a moment's respite. The woman had her arm around Willow's throat. He called desperately, "Anne!"  
  
Anne spun, seeing the scene in slow motion. Xander down. Willow about to be dragged off. "Willow," she breathed. She started to work her way over, moving with agonizing slowness, heaving vampire after vampire out of the way.   
  
Time sped up again as she reached Willow, who was fighting weakly, almost unconscious. Anne viciously kicked the vamp in the face, throwing her off Willow, then followed that up with a flurry of kicks and punches.   
  
Willow rose, gasping and rubbing her throat. When she had her breath back, she observed, "I think she's ready for staking, Buffy."  
  
Anne shook herself, then plunged the stake into the vamp. She caught Willow up in a hug. "I'm so sorry," she said softly. "I didn't stop her in my timeline."  
  
"Oh," Willow said, mystified, then, "Ohhhh," as she got it. Anne pushed her aside with an apologetic look, diving for another vamp.   
  
The front door opened. Tara and Jenny came out, exchanging nervous glances. "Get back inside!" Willow hissed, horrified.  
  
"I couldn't stay in there without you," Tara whispered. "It's all right." She muttered over her closed fist, then motioned towards the nearest vamp. A greenish powder flew out, enveloping the vamp. He fell to the ground, coughing. "It won't last for long, but it should help."  
  
Jenny was white. "I have to help." She threw powder on another vamp. The two witches moved cautiously through the crowd.   
  
Until it happened.   
  
Jenny threw powder on a petite woman sneaking up behind Giles. She fell to the floor, but managed to sweep Jenny's legs out from under her on the way down. There was a loud -CRACK!- as Jenny's head hit the pavement, then another vamp was on her, baring her throat and feeding. Giles spun. He stared at Jenny's body, stricken.  
  
The other vampires stopped their attacks and watched avidly.  
  
The middle-aged black vamp and the large red-haired vamp took his arms. They exchanged glances with each other, then Giles seemed to blur. He was Giles, then he was the petite Asian woman, then he was the strong black woman, then he was Giles again.   
  
The vampires bit into him simultaneously. Giles gasped, then his eyes rolled back in his head. He fell to the ground.   
  
"Giles!" Buffy screamed.   
  
"ANYA!" Xander screamed. He could see her lying, unmoving, on the far side of the courtyard.   
  
He tried to go to her, but Anne grabbed him by the shoulders. "Too dangerous," she said tautly, eyes wet. Two vamps nearby turned and growled at them in warning.  
  
They could only watch as Giles writhed on the ground. The two vampires with him snarled their satisfaction. Giles rose. His features transformed; forehead wrinkled, eyes grew yellow, and his teeth lengthened. "Oh, Goddess," Willow breathed, backing away.   
  
Giles and the two leaders laughed. They turned abruptly and stalked out of the courtyard. The others flowed behind them.  
  
All except one. A dark-haired figure knelt over Anya.   
  
Xander clenched his fists, knowing in his gut that he was too late. He ran over and launched a fist at the other man's jaw. The man fell back, stunned, then seized his hands before he could strike again. "It's me!" he yelled. "It's you - it's us. Xander. She's all right! Don't you understand? She's all right! She helped a couple of people escape. She got hit on the head. She's just dazed."  
  
Xander stared at the man - at himself. The older Xander was unshaven, with lines of grey shot through his hair. "Wow," he muttered softly. Then he looked down at Anya, who was rubbing her head. "Wow," he repeated, smiling. He knelt down and embraced her, then helped her up.   
  
The other Xander was also staring. At Willow. His eyes were bright. He walked over to her and took her hand. "I missed you," he told her confidingly, as the tears started to spill out. Then he held her close.   
  
Buffy blinked. "Well, this is all very nice, and Anya, I'm glad you're okay, but what the hell just happened?"  
  
The older Xander's face became solemn. "I found out where you have to be, Buffy," he said to Anne. He blinked, eyes crossing, then wobbled. Anne helped him sit down.  
  
"Call me 'Anne'," she advised. "It saves on confusion. And if you're gonna say I should be back three years - I already know. Unfortunately." She sighed.  
  
"Okay, Anne," he said sadly. "I'm glad I got here to help An," he glanced at Willow, clearly not saying 'and to see you', "but I wish I'd been in time to help Giles."  
  
"Tell me about it," Anne commiserated. "Are you all right?"  
  
"I'll be okay," he assured her. "The timeline's breaking down. You and I are more affected because we come from further along. Further after it all got screwed."  
  
Anne nodded slowly. "I felt sick too - I thought it was just from the spell."  
  
"Tara said we'll notice all sorts of weirdness. Time lags and other things."  
  
"So what the hell do we do next?" Buffy asked, exasperated.  
  
"We have to talk about that," said the older Xander. He grinned tiredly. "Just don't call me 'Lavelle'."  
  



End file.
